About Me and My Blog

this is me!

Hi there! I'm Beth Hempton; pleased to meet you. If you're new to my blog, welcome! Hope you'll have a look around. If you're an old friend just checking in, thank you. You are the reason why I keep posting & I appreciate your readership. Please leave a comment so that I'll know you've been here. It truly makes my day!

Crafty Mishmash is an online journal for chronicling my creative pursuits in the world of designing and making things, from products for my small crafty business, to renovating & styling my home & garden. It's also an archive of awesome things that win my admiration & inspire me. I have a love of things handmade, the quirky and the one-of-a-kind, curiosities, antiques and ephemera of days gone by (with a particular penchant for the 1920s), and objects of design that simplify our lives in beautiful ways. I seek to incorporate my passions for art, design & handcrafts into my daily life and piece together a creative career for myself, like a beautiful patchwork quilt of my interests, skills and past experiences.

Patrick & Marvin

I live in Austin, TX with my husband, Patrick, one kooky cat named Pooky & a Leopard Tortoise named Marvin. I love the creative vibes radiating from every corner of the city & often post about the many unique businesses, events, places & people here. You'll find those posts labeled Austin Beauty/Creativity/Fun. I also have a series of interviews with Austin artists called Local Talent Tuesdays.

I hope you will enjoy reading Crafty Mishmash, a busy hub of creative goodness where you'll find news and updates on my creative work; cool things I find online that I want to share; inspiring people & places; and posts about our little DIY victories in home improvement and gardening. I'm also amassing a wonderful Tutorial Collection (mostly by others on the web, though I occasionally post some of my own, too).

My background is in fine art, graphic design and teaching. Currently, my days are spent working from home as an artist/crafter/designer/illustrator. I'm the sole proprietor of Beth Hempton Art & Toys, creating whimsical, handmade, earth-friendly items for kids & the young at heart.

Patrick & I also own an online lingerie boutique, Kuhmillion.com. I do all of the graphic design & most of the marketing & PR for that site as well. Our goal with Kuhmillion is to eventually transition from selling mass-produced lingerie to offering more unique pieces from local designers. We'd like to turn our shop into an indie designer showcase featuring outstanding lingerie & handmade accessories. So although having a lingerie boutique may seem totally unrelated to my other artistic goals, it's actually quite in line with them and one more way to support the handmade movement and up & coming designers!

I'm also a co-founder of and former partner in The WonderCraft, formed to bring crafty-cool classes, parties & events, plus a handmade boutique, to Austin with Stella, a beloved vintage Airstream trailer. I made this snazzy headband at one of our events using old t-shirts. That's the kind of fun stuff the WonderCraft gals are always doing! You can read more here in my WonderCraft posts. Also check out Get Crafty, Austin, The WonderCraft's blog.

Additionally, I'm the founder and former Co-President of EtsyAustin, a team of Austinites who sell their wares on Etsy. Check out EtsyAustin's blog and some items from the team.

If you still want to know more, here are some other places to look:
my WonderCraft profile
my Etsy profile
my Flickr photostream

Feel free to contact me any time at beth.hempton[at]gmail[dot]com. I love hearing from my readers and fans of my work. Thanks so much for taking a peek at my blog!